We're going to.. Jackson.. Look out Jackson Town.

 

 

Boy am I just behind guys or what..

& These pictures and 'stories to remember' are just piling up on me..

 

So before we left New Jersey Blake and I got one of our favorite presents..

[as you have already seen]..

Our Tent!

 

& We thought before it got too dang cold here in Idaho..

[Because let me tell you boy.. does it get cold..]

 

 

We HAD to go on a camping trip!

 

 

Blake is so cute when it comes to camping..

It's "his job" to do everything.

And he is so good at it.. I love him.. and love his camping skills.

So he packed up our tin foil dinners,

 

And then we BARELY squeezed into our dear friends,

Dave and Gaby's, car..

Isn't it nice they let us just stuff their car to the brim..

:)

 

 And I do mean to the brim..

We barely could fit ourselves.

[We are prepared campers]

But we FIT hallelujah and after a looong day of school we were on our way..

 

 

Unfortunately.. as it seems to do quite often..

School cut into our fun camping time..

SO by the time we got there we had time to eat, set up camp, and...

EAT SMORES..

 

 

The marshmellows OBVIOUSLY were not very happy about being eaten..

I've never seen such a grumpy face on a marshmellow.

 

But after we overlooked the emotional marshmellows and time school interfered with our fun,

 It sure was nice to unwind with our friends..

 



 

 & Have a little bit of a break from the world.

Now here is my serious question to all of you..

Have you ever been woken up by a HERD OF COWS?!

Because if you have I want to hear how awesome it was for you..

I was slightly excited..

[okay.. yeah..ecstatic..]

 



And what was just hillarious to me was how absolutely terrified these cows were of me us.

When we woke up they were like ON TOP of our tent I thought we were going to get trampled.

We opened the tent door we were just a few feet away from these cute little cows..

& Just by the time I grabbed the camera they were sprinting away..





So just imagine how happy they were when I decided I wanted to PET ONE..

 

Needless to say.. these cows are like lightening fast.. which one [such as myself] would not expect and it didn't happen..

 



So after our exciting wake up call..

Blake went to starting the fire and being manly.. and helping take care of the breakfast and camping stuff..

I watched.. and took pictures.. and had just a grand morning cheering him on.

:)

 



Oh and there is our best friend David Bowen!

I didn't even realize how TERRIBLE of a job I did of taking pictures of our sweet friends.. but they were definitely here being just great and a part of all of this that you see..

 

Hopefully my photography skills will improve next camping trip..

 



oh yes.

And that is our lovely tent.. that inspired a new desire for our outdoor endeavors.

 



Then after a delicious breakfast made by our friends we decided to spend the afternoon in Jackson Hole.

 



I've been here a few times with my family and this was the part that I remembered most

[This and the Ripleys Believe it or Not Museum.. If you have money definitely go see it if you can it's SO interesting]

So we made sure to stop at the Antler Arch Park..

[Where obviously way too many elk were sacrificed..]

 



 

It is SO funny to me how different the West and the East Coast are for being in the same country..

Because we definitely didn't see anything like this this summer..

But I definitely felt 'back at home' this weekend..

 

And then we just played around with everything we could find that was

"In the Budget"

Haha and sometimes to me that is the most fun 'playing' there is..

 



And THERE is our cute friend Gaby..

Who is pregnant and due in March!

:)

Yay.

I think that we probably wore our sweet pregnant friend out a little bit but she was quite the good sport..

 



 

& There is my sweet husband who is definitely a character..

 

I haven't exactly figured out WHAT character yet..

 





But he definitely makes life a lot more fun.

This is basically how I feel every morning when I wake up to him.

:)

I'm one lucky girl.

 

 

 

And when we got back to camp..

I was DELIGHTED to see that the cows had returned!

I decided to try again to pet them before we left..

I gave it a good.. RUN.. I'd say..

But those cows were just not being very agreeable..

Maybe someday..

[Perhaps the same day that I can convince Blake that we need to go cow tipping..]

 

Then after another fun night, tin foil dinners, frisbee and girl talk, &.. oh yeah some introducing us to Slender Man in the dark mountains..

We had to head back to life..

 

But I sure am grateful for good friends and weekends away.

I'm can't wait for next summer when we can go again.

:)

 

My friends I hope that you all are doing great,

I sure have been missing you.

& Hope that I'll be better at keeping in touch.. and you all updated on life.

Have a Wonderful Monday!

 



Full of Grattitude

 

Everyone, part of what has been keeping me so busy has been putting together our cute appartment and organizing all of our sweet wedding gifts.

I seriously feel that saying Thank You is not enough..

But from the bottom of my heart SINCERFULLY

THANK YOU everyone.

 

 

It is such a crazy experience literally starting out with nothing..

But luckily we have been indescribably blessed and this room (yes I'm sitting on the top of the bed post) is filled top to bottom full of gifts-kitchen things and necessities for life!

And all of our furniture and more boxes are filling the next room..

[Just to clarify that baby diaper box is NOT for a baby.. haha if you were wondering.. it's full of nice dishes from my grandparents. Dishes.. not Diapers.. got it. No babies coming.]

 

What a mess huh.. haha

But what a blessing.

We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends and I wish I could tell you everyday how much we love you and appreciate you.

Seriously I don't know how we would have done it without all of you.

 

I love you guys!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

 

Someday I hope that I can share all of the happiness and unbelievable GRATITUDE that you have given me.


Home Sweet Desert

 

It was definitely quite the experience driving from the green tree-covered

 East Coast back to my little home desert...

But there is no greater feeling than coming back to my family and driving into my home town.

 

This was the first summer I haven't really got to spend time with my family..

[Now don't get me wrong.. Blake and I got to spend it as our new little family and what a sweet experience that was..]

 

 Growing up is definitely one of those bittersweet things..

So I was SO glad we could at least come visit for a little bit before heading back to school.

While we were there I had to pack up my room and finish the Thank You Cards that we lucky enough to have so many to write..
[but man am I not sad that I don't have to do pack like that again.. guys.. there is really such thing as TOO MUCH stuff.]
So to keep me and everyone else [my poor family through all of this].. sane
Mitchy took Blake and I on a little afternoon date..

 
He got a really nice new gun when he got his Eagle Scout..
 [& after deciding he would like it more not just hanging on the wall.. even though let me tell you.. this thing is fancy.]
 So we decided it would be fun to go shooting in the canyon!

And man I was just loving it..
:)
Can you tell by my face?!

 
But really.. even though I'm not a big gun [knife, fighting, blood.. anything that could cause blood..]  kind of person
it was really fun.
AND further more.. I was the one that hit this gatorade bottle square in the heart.
Talk about happiness.

 

The rest of the time however..

I just coached watched.

 

Oh yes. They found full cans of beer. The classy excitement in our lives is astounding.
haha
And then [after we went squirrel searching because Mitch was determined]
My sweet brother took us out to a movie too.
Taking care of the poor newly weds..
:)
Thanks Mitch.. You're a dang good brotha.

 
During our week home we also got to show Blake what a REAL [delicous] Navajo Taco tasted like..

We have sweet Navajo friends that we go to church with..
And our cute friend Megan made our whole family this awesome authentic meal..

And it was SO yummy!
I sure having been missing this South Western food.


Then when all the packing, and writing, and work was done we got to go on a little family date to Durango.
My favorite.

 

 

And our first stop?

Yes. This little house/bookstore covered top to bottom in.. BOOKS.
With no rhyme or reason.. or END to the madness.

& With all of the twists and turns and.. did I mention books?
You start to go a little crazy.

If you have ever thought about burying your home in books and calling it a book store..
and were curious to as what that would look like..
Ta. Dah.
You are so welcome for uplifting your life.

What the adventure.
Luckily though we had a cute little tour guide so we didn't get lost in there forever..
[Mar and the rest of the family had been here before..]

Then after our tour of the crazy Motor Cycle Rally that was going on,
[I think we counted like 70 motor cyles just lined up along the sides of the road]
And getting to see the GROSS unique motorcyles,



We finally got to our highlight of the night.
Bar D!

 

 

If you never have been to Bar D.. it's one of favorite things!

They feed you the best dinner EVER and then they have a little country outdoor concert.

 

 

 

& It is SO delicious/fun.

 

Look at those good parents.. holding down our place in line while we are exploring.
:)

 

There are a bunch of shops and fun things to do once you get in to the ranch..

And in one of them we found this horse shoe game that everyone became obsessed with for the night.

 

And Marah was EXTREMELY good at it!
This girl has some serious skills.

Then before we knew it she was teaching a class!

 

 Here's my pretty Momma through all of this.. 

Still saving our place in line.

 

 
Once the kind parents got through the [long] Bar D line.. we got to explore a little more..
 

We thought we would be Cowboys to fit in with the crowd..
[I'm sure Blake was just loving this.. he has been having to 'adapt' to Country Music since we have gotten married]

And Strange Boys..

 
And then somehow we found our way back to this Horseshoe game for a while..
Where you can see Marah was schooling everyone again..

It seemed to turn into some ulitimate goal for the night.
Thank goodness everyone figured it out.
What a great feeling..

I had wanted to ride on the train when we got there but we really didn't want to pay for it.
So once the Conducter left..

We commandeered it..
:)
[Thank you captain Jack Sparrow for the skills you have taught me.]

& After our train adventure.. I guess I was enjoying dinner too much to take pictures during it..
But we finally got to watch our show.

It is one of those interactive funny concerts that everyone can get into.
And I was one happy girl.
It felt so good to be back enjoying the end of the summer with the family.

 

I can't believe how blessed I feel that we have been able to make these fun memories and have such great experiences.

We are pretty lucky..

And I am grateful that I can testify how great life can be.

 

I hope you guys have felt like that at some point this week too.

I love you all.

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend.. keep hangin in there.

 

 

Oh Denver

 

Remember how everyone tells you the best horror stories about having inlaws before you get married?

And how they tell you you're in for a treat, and to just wait, and sweet stories you could not try not to ever imagine?

 

 

Well I think those people must not know THIS cute family.

:)

But really.. I never imagined anyone would be as sweet and supportive as they have been..

 

So moral of the story..

hope for the worst, imagine how terrible things could be, look at the glass half empty..

& then hopefully you'll never be disappointed.

 

[[ha. yeah just kidding guys don't do that.]]

 

 

Nic, Kirsten, Daphne, and new baby Ari let us come play with them for a whole weekend in Denver on our way home after Nauvoo..

And man [do I sure wish we lived closer] did we have fun.

 

Kirsten and her sweet friend Melanie took us on a little adventure tour of

Hammonds Candy Factory..

Where we learned how to make Candy Canes and other delicious looking treats.

mmm.

 

And since this whole AUNT thing is very new to me I was just in heaven despite what we were doing..

 



Daph let us take her to the park and showed us the ropes at home..
[Taught us to play doctor, helped us work on our coloring skills, showed us just what it really means to sing and dance, caught us up on the Camp Fred movie  she thought we had been missing out on..] 

And this little guy was just really busy being terribly cute.

I can't imagine two sweeter, cuter kids..
They completely stole my heart and I wanted to stay and play with them forever.
[Do nieces and nephews just have that affect on people.. is that why people love them so much?]

& I have to just share this sweet story really fast.
Daph was sitting on my lap in church the morning that we were leaving and she told me that she was going to miss me and I hadn't heard her..
So she turns back and looks at me real seriously like I was in trouble and asks,
"Are you going to miss me too!?"
So I laughed and was like yes of course I'm going to miss you!
And Daphne says, "GOOD because I'm going to miss you SO much!
I'M GOING TO MISS YOU SO TALL!"
[as she jumps up and screams in the middle of sacrament]
awww..
[Completely melt my heart and convince me to move to Denver?]
I love YOU so TALL Daph.

[& This is a little bit of a delayed post]
But Nic, Kirsten, Daphne, & Ari.
I sure LOVE you guys, thanks for being so awesome.
I'm counting down the days until Thanksgiving!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday Everyone.
:)

lets pray we get through the rest of this crazy week..
 
[&  oh yeah.. no I haven't slept yet in the last 24 hours because my crazy amounts of homework,
So if this blog doesn't make sense.. be patient with me
while I sell my soul to my degree..]